Surfing, Skateboarding, Music, Photography, Travel, Culture and general antics of the youth on the run.

Who’s that British madman? Collected Thoughts 135: The first time Nate Lawrence saw Tom Lowe paddle past him

Tom Lowe, British Surfer, Nate Lawrence
/ PRV
Photo: Nate Lawrence

Editor’s Note: You know we’re up to something when a dude like Tom Lowe’s name starts coming up. The British surfer smiles in the face of horror, and he’s been on our radar and in our inbox. Here’s some scary info from Nate Lawrence about him. Stay tuned for what we’re up to.—Travis 

This might be the scariest wave I’ve ever seen in person. I had just watched a surfer smash his head into the reef and had half his face ripped off. The power of this spooky Australian wave hadn’t caught my attention, until then.  The next set after all that I see this guy take off way deep and looking way too relaxed as a mountain of water came crashing down over him. He paddled by me afterwards and then it all made sense as soon as I saw his face: It was Tom Lowe. This guy is regularly hucks himself over all those scary Instagram-friendly, real life deadly waves. I was once at a remote Indonesian slab and Tom showed up solo on the day of the year. Down at Todos Santos I see him jumping in boats with the Long brothers (that’s some serious waterman cred). He’s just got a knack for being in the right place at the right time, which is usually somewhere very few humans would paddle out and surf.—Nate Lawrence

Brendon Gibbens and Nate Tyler in Australia What Youth

Brendon Gibbens and Nate Tyler about to join a cauldron of ramps and sharks Collected Thoughts 039

PHOTO: Lawrence You don’t expect to feel like there’s a chance Jeremy Wade the River Monster fisherman will pop up at any moment when you’re on a surf trip, but after three straight weeks of incessant rain, it felt just like that this year in Australia. Every river we saw was swollen and bursting at…

Luke Davis and Kai Neville check out surfboards What Youth

You don’t have a clue who Luke Davis really is. Neither did we. Collected Thoughts 038

PHOTO: Ferré “Can I just style the movie?” Luke Davis asks us as we review footage high above Coolangatta yesterday afternoon. “I’m thinking combat boots…” Luke is in Australia filming for Reef and What Youth’s rapidly approaching film, Anything Sing, but he’s more interested in talking to us about what’s going on behind the scenes….

Creed McTaggart This is Us Australia What Youth

Creed McTaggart, Filming for This Is Us, a new What Youth Series Collected Thoughts 037

PHOTO: Lawrence It’s long been established that surf trips are difficult. Wind, swell, angles, coastlines, sand, reefs and human behavior all combine for a wild social cocktail. And the thing that’s rarely spoken of is how much time we have to get to know each other while chasing these conditions in a car. With the…

Chippa Wilson rides for Fox photographed by Nate Lawrence What Youth

Chippa’s new stickers Collected Thoughts 036

PHOTO: Lawrence This morning at 6:30 a.m. I heard someone out on the deck, scraping wax and drinking coffee. The sun was just starting to peak around the morning clouds and it was quiet aside from the prehistoric dinosaur birds that lose their minds in the Australian morning. Chippa Wilson had begun the process of…

Anything Sing crew What Youth

On the set of What Youth and Reef’s new film Anything Sing Collected Thoughts 035

PHOTO: Lawrence We were worried. We hadn’t had any communication from What Youth photographer Nate Lawrence since he said he would call from Marrakech. We began to think the waves never showed and the boys resorted to the local tea and hookah shops for salvation. But then we thought how could the swell that produced…

Dion Aguis Creed McTaggart What Youth

Old Fashioned road trip down the South Coast of Australia Collected Thoughts 034

PHOTO: Neville A mix of young and old, hunting for onshore reefs but also rising before sunrise in search of golden light. Are we getting old? I remember filming for Modern Collective, the photographer would bang his tripod on the ground, accidentally knock your mattress at first light and roust you awake. We wanted no…

Ben Nordberg and Curren Caples in Venice photographed by Scott Chenoweth What Youth

Ben Nordberg and Curren Caples, Venice, California Collected Thoughts 033

PHOTO: Chenoweth Ben Nordberg is a 23-year-old professional skater from Bath, England and Curren Caples is a 17-year old professional shred-on-everything-he-rides from Ventura, California. This odd couple find themselves sharing four walls in Hollywood (actually Curren has only stayed at their apartment for three nights in almost four months, but still, roomies!). They’re Flip Skateboard…

Craig Anderson What Youth

Craig Anderson Post-Flight nap on a cold California Day Collected Thoughts 032

PHOTO: Beren Hall Craig Anderson got here yesterday. He strolled into our place bright eyed and bushy tailed, toting coffee and post-flight chit-chat buzz. We talked skateboarding and surfing, holiday breaks, and how his film (the reason he’s here) is coming together. He’s got a pretty booked couple of weeks here in California going through…

Pretty Sweet What Youth

A What Youth Press Release Collected Thoughts 031

PHOTO: Screenshot from Pretty Sweet I think it’s the scene in the new skate video Pretty Sweet where they are spraying, toasting and blasting beer into the air. It’s snowing and it’s shot on RED, just a brilliant moment. Someone must have stomped a sick one. It’s unfiltered fuck it! Right there on the screen….

Hawaii photographed by Scott Chenoweth What Youth

Dane and Gabriel in Hawaii Collected Thoughts 030

PHOTO: Chenoweth I’m trying to keep calm. I’m trying to carry on. But after doing some responsible drinking, I’m going to chime in. Since Friday, two maneuvers were pulled off that were crazy. One by Dane in competition — a turn that perfectly demonstrates his disregard for things like waves, surfboards and competitive strategy. The…

Craig Anderson photographed by Kai Neville What Youth

Craig Anderson, Changed ticket Collected Thoughts 029

PHOTO: Neville When we spoke to Craig he was just home from Europe before coming to California, then New York and New England. Europe didn’t end well. Craig is a kind soul and to move against him is an awful sin, and a Frenchman had sinned. It happens everywhere.   CRAIG ANDERSON: I’ve been home…

Dion Agius in France photographed by Kai Neville What Youth

Day one in France with Dion Collected Thoughts 028

PHOTO: Neville Little did they know that this would be one of the only successful surfs of the trip. Kai and Dion were to meet up with Craig and Dane but had one free day while those two took the opportunity to rip Wave Garden, the fake European wave in Spain. Walking up this day,…

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